Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0Reported crime per resident in Berkeley Township fell 41% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Berkeley Township grades B+ for safety (#168 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): less crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NJ” is every other New Jersey city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Berkeley Township
4 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 New Jersey towns on Berkeley Township’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Ocean Township (A+), Seaside Park (A), Beachwood (B+), Lacey Township (B+), South Toms River (B), Toms River Township (B), Seaside Heights (D−). Pine Beach reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Berkeley Township’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 51% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 67% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Berkeley Township’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of New Jersey.
Show as a table
| Year | Berkeley Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Berkeley Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.5 | 13.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 10.2 | 14.8 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 5.9 | 14.0 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 5.3 | 12.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Berkeley Township’s police reported 175 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Berkeley Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 5 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
305 crimes reported in 2025
63 violent and 242 property, as reported to the FBI by Berkeley Township’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
10 people died in crashes on Berkeley Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Berkeley Township had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is 4.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for New Jersey towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.8, 102 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Berkeley Township and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Township | B+ | 1.3 | 7.1 |
| Lacey Township | B+ | 0.8 | 8.2 |
| Ocean Township | A+ | 0.2 | 2.6 |
| Pine Beach | — | — | — |
| Toms River Township | B | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Beachwood | B+ | 0.8 | 7.8 |
| Seaside Park | A | 0.8 | 3.6 |
| South Toms River | B | 1.0 | 10.2 |
| Seaside Heights | D− | 8.2 | 38.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Pine Beach reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Township | B+ | 1.3 | 7.1 |
| Manchester Township | A | 0.7 | 4.2 |
| Hillsborough Township | A− | 0.7 | 4.3 |
| Montclair Township | B+ | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| North Brunswick Township | B− | 1.6 | 14.4 |
| Hackensack | C | 2.4 | 20.9 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Berkeley Township’s population (45,550), by grade.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Berkeley Township. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Berkeley Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (45,629 in 2025); our figure for Berkeley Township is 45,550 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Berkeley Township
Is Berkeley Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Berkeley Township reports less crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #168 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 1.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Berkeley Township?
1.3 violent and 7.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.1 and 13.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Berkeley Township?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Berkeley Township in 2025?
Berkeley Township’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Berkeley Township safer than Lacey Township?
Lacey Township reports less crime per resident than Berkeley Township: Lacey Township grades B+ for safety and Berkeley Township B+. Lacey Township’s police reported 0.8 violent and 8.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Berkeley Township?
Berkeley Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Berkeley Township”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Berkeley Township.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.